ONE of the most eagerly awaited films of the year, is set for release on May 21. After a thunderous response to the film's first-look promo, Bollywood-loving audiences are eagerly awaiting Hrithik Roshan's and Mexican actress Barbara Mori's Kites.

Produced by Rakesh Roshan and being released worldwide by Reliance Big Pictures, Kites is directed by Anurag Basu and also stars Kangana Ranaut, Kabir Bedi and Nick Brown.

Music is by Rajesh Roshan, cinematography by Ayananka Bose and stunt co-ordination by Hollywood's Spiro Razatos.

What's more, Kites is going to be released on the same day with its English version, presented and reworked by the well-known Hollywood director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour series, X-Men: The Last Stand). The English version is re-edited by Mark Helfrich (Rush Hour series, X-Men: The Last Stand) with additional background score by Graeme Revell (Sin City, Grindhouse, Pineapple Express).

The cast and crew are tight-lipped about the film because of its visuals, story and direction.

Kites is a compelling romantic saga that goes beyond barriers, boundaries and cultures. It is a story of passion that defies every rule, of a relationship that takes two lovers (Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori) on a thrilling journey filled with precious moments and unexpected betrayal.

Shot in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Santa Fe, Kites is one of the biggest films ever produced in India.

As a company, Reliance Big Entertainment Limited (RBEL) has partnered Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in the new DreamWorks Studios. Additionally RBEL has unique creative partnerships for film development and production with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment, and several production companies owned by top US actors and producers, including Nicholas Cage, Brad Pitt, Tom Hank, George Clooney, Chris Columbus, Jay Roach, Jim Carrey, Brett Ratner and Julia Roberts.

Every journalist in India is probably looking for a quote from actor Hrithik

Roshan and father/producer Rakesh Roshan. Well, your Bollywood columnist finds himself the luckiest man because Devansh Patel has an exclusive quote from the father/son duo on Kites.

Commenting on the film for the first ever time, Hrithik says: "Kites is a very special film for me. It marks my return after three-and-a-half years, and yes, I'm equally excited about its worldwide release. We all had conviction in the concept and always felt that this film could cross boundaries and break the borders of language and geography.

It can become something that will be completely new - newer than we've ever seen in India or in the world. And we all have collectively achieved that. It is a film which will appeal to people across cultures and ethnicity."

Producer Rakesh Roshan says: "We are very excited about the release of Kites in the UK. Yes, it is indeed a one-of-a-kind, film, which will witness the widest release ever. For the first time an Indian film will be releasing an English and Hindi version, one for the diaspora audience and the other for the international audience across cultures and races."

Kites is unique in many ways; it will also showcase for the first time an international (Mexican) actress, Barbara Mori in the lead. The film is bilingual, with Hindi and Spanish being used for the first time on the big screen. The English version will have English and Spanish as the primary languages spoken in the film.

"By this extraordinary achievement, we are hoping to tap new markets which have never been attempted so far in Bollywood."